Crimson Typhoon
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Kushina's father wasn't as dead as the Third Hokage had thought...she just let them believe she was an orphan because it was easier than trying to explain her father was a notorious pirate captain! Shanks, captain of the Red-Haired pirates, makes it in time to see the Kyuubi attack Konoha and retrieve his granddaughter before she's taken. Can the world survive two Uzumaki pirates?
1. Chapter 1

_**Charger cord is dead on laptop that I write updates on. Will take at least a week before I get a new one. Until then, only a few stories will be updated. Sorry for the wait!**_

* * *

When the Kyuubi attacked, there was one very special soul in Konoha that horrible day.

Kushina wasn't an orphan, but she let people assumed she was because of what her father was.

Her father was a good man, but a horrible parent. When Kushina chose to become a shinobi rather than join him, he honored her choice and made it a point to send her presents from all over the world.

Kushina never told her husband who sent her things using such colorful birds, and as long as she never cheated on him he never asked.

However on the eve of giving birth to her first child, her father decided to make an appearance in person for the first time in five years.

He was the first one to the room after the fox was resealed.

* * *

Red-Haired Shanks was a notorious pirate. But what people didn't know was that he was originally from a shinobi clan, one who had been wiped out because people were afraid of them. He had gotten pretty far with the family sealing arts (mostly to hold more liquor in his ship along with storing food for longer periods) but he had never bothered to learn how to fully use his chakra outside of solid clones.

So after he sees the shinobi seal the fox, he immediately headed to the hospital to find anyone under the name Uzumaki. Or at the very least any newborns with red hair.

"What?" barked the medic nin irate.

"I'm looking for anyone with the last name of Uzumaki, or red hair," said Shanks flatly. He flared just a teensy bit of Haki at the woman to get the point across.

"Nursery, one floor up and on the left," she stammered. Something about him set off all her fighter's responses.

He left her alone and she barely refrained from calling the ANBU. The hospital was already packed. They didn't need more injured.

Shanks made his way up to the maternity ward and looked for any newborns with bright red hair. It took him five seconds to find a baby girl not even an hour old with a strange seal on her stomach.

"What do you want? We're already full up dealing with injured children!" barked the doctor.

"I'm here to retrieve my daughter. Has Kushina Uzumaki been admitted?"

"Uzumaki... Kushina Uzumaki was killed by the fox, same as most of their parents," said the doctor.

"She was supposed to give birth today, or within the week. Is it possible to do a test to confirm relation without having to wait?"

If Kushina was dead, then her husband likely was too. In that case he would have to take the child in. At least Yasopp knew how to handle newborns.

"Come over here. If you are related to anyone in this ward, the stone will glow blue at whichever child is yours."

If he was retrieving a newborn, that meant one less child to deal with, and supplies could be used to help someone else.

Shanks channeled what little chakra he could remember how to use into the stone, and it sent out a signal to the one with the newborn with the seal.

"Sign here, here and here, along with your relation and take her. We need all the space we can get after this," said the doctor with some relief.

Shanks picked up the girl, stole a few supplies so he could return to his ship in one piece, and left the village without anyone the wiser for several hours.

* * *

"What's with the kid captain?" asked Beckman.

"My granddaughter. Kushina was killed," said Shanks.

His crew was silent for a few minutes in respect to the Captain's daughter. Kushina rather liked her father's crew when they visited her in Uzushio. She was practically family.

"So what's her name?" asked Yasopp.

Seeing Shanks' face blank for a moment, the lone father of the crew pressed the question.

"She _does_ have a name right?"

"Ehehehe... I think so?"

Yasopp leveled a Look at his captain.

"So she doesn't even have a name yet?"

"There was an attack when she was born! Kushina might have died before giving her one!"

Then Shanks grinned.

"That means we'll have to name the newest member of our crew!"

Which sparked a long debate on what to name a little girl.

* * *

"Gale!" yelped Shanks when he realized what she had gotten her hands on.

How the hell had a five-year-old with only basic chakra training find the sealing supplies?

Everyone on the crew knew how to make a basic seal, and most of the advanced ones. It was an easy way to keep them from getting too out of hand by making it a game to see who could create the biggest boom with the sealing supplies Shanks always stocked up on whenever they visited an Elemental Island.

And now a five year old kid who loved explosions and knew how to make a basic exploding tag and way too much chakra for it to be natural was painting on the walls with one of the sealing inks.

Of course he was going to panic!

Gale (because when she started walking she was an unstoppable force of nature and loved to move around during high winds) giggled. Her dad was funny when he was freaking out.

"Gale, what have I told you about painting with the big kid's ink on Daddy's ship?"

"Only paint with the smelly ink on the ships with the white-outfits," said Gale dutifully.

"That's right. We don't our ship unless we want to spend the time to fix it back up," said Shanks.

Gale pouted, but put away the brush.

"Come on, let's go raid the pantries. I hear there's ice cream in there," said Shanks.

"Ice cream, ice cream!" cheered the girl.

"Captain, Marines on the port side, closing in!" shouted the lookout.

"Aw..." said Gale disappointed. However Shanks knew how to cheer up his little force of nature.

"How about this... you go paint on their ship with the smelly ink and we'll have some fireworks once we're done?" said Shanks.

"Fireworks, fireworks!" cheered Gale.

Gale did paint a few explosive tags, but when one of the Marines tried to capture her the crew took offense.

If any of them made it to the next island to report Gale, Shanks would be very surprised.

"Land sighted!" shouted the lookout.

* * *

It was Gale's eighth birthday and they had been in the general vicinity of the Fire Island.

Originally it was called the Elemental Nations, but a massive earthquake shortly after the Kyuubi was sealed resulted in the lands being split apart by five miles of oceans. They were now called the Elemental Islands.

Surprisingly enough, the islands split evenly along the lines of the map.

Each island nation developed it's own navy in response. They didn't answer to the World Government, which made them a haven for pirates so long as they didn't piss off the locals too much. The only reason the Marines didn't try to enforce order was because the shinobi which had rules the massive land before were a much better task force.

Last time Shanks had been there, the civilians had learned rather quickly the easiest way to deal with idiots was to have a series of fines for anyone causing trouble in the port. Most people didn't go too far inland.

Because he was actually more of a local (being from the Uzushio island before it was wiped out) the fines were a little less than the Marines had to pay.

"So which village are we visiting first Tou-san?"

"We're going to head into Wave and from there we'll visit Konoha. Haven't been there since you were born," said Shanks.

Gale was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ready to go explore Konoha Gale?"

"Yup!" said Gale, popping the 'p' sound.

Gale was in her favorite outfit which made her look like a white and red fox.

She had white paws and white gloves...and a more recent addition after Shanks caught her using Haki by accident when a Marine foolishly ruined the picture she had painted (normal paints, not the sealing inks) a pair of red fox ears with white tufts of fur inside. On her backside was a long red tail with a white tip.

Seeing quite a few glares leveled at her direction, Shanks warned them off with a little Haki. Gale pouted because every time she tried to use more than the bare bones of it she left the entire crew out cold except for Shanks.

Why oh why did his granddaughter inherit the same colors he did?

Gale was eating ramen at this quaint little stand with the gold she had earned working around the ship. They rarely got quality ramen, as their cook staunchly refused to even _try_ to keep up with the demand from Shanks and Gale.

Those two could put away more of the stuff than even the crew could eat. Beckman swore that it had to be genetic. Who could eat that much ramen and not get sick?

Teuchi, the owner and cook, was happy as a clam as the girl had shown him all the gold she had on her and kept on eating. (And he did check that it was real gold.)

"Hey! Having fun?" asked an unshaven man with bright red hair and a straw hat he had found.

"Tou-san! They have the best ramen!"

"How many have you had?"

"Only three!"

"In that case, four bowls of miso and pork! I can't let my adorable little brat get ahead of me in a ramen eating competition!" said the man with a laugh.

"Coming right up!" said Teuchi with a large smile. These two were eating as much as an Akimichi.

Shanks and Gale devoured bowl after bowl, leaving shocked shinobi in their wake. Finally Shanks admitted defeat and shoved what was left of his bowl to his daughter, who happily finished it. Seeing the looks of the people around them, he patted his stomach and said with a grin, "Never underestimate an Uzumaki's capacity for the food of the gods!"

"Here, here!" said Gale.

Shanks left a good portion of gold with Teuchi to pay for the bill, leaving a happy ramen chef behind them. He might have protested at the fact that the red head had given him too much gold, but Shanks laughed it off saying that quality ramen like that deserved the extra tip.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt every bit of his years. Eight years ago the Kyuubi attacked the village, leaving death and destruction in it's wake. Mere minutes after leaving the new container for the damn demon, and she goes missing.

All that was left behind was a piece of paper with the name "S. Uzumaki" along with the confirmation that the girl was related to the man.

He still cursed the council for all the hassle they gave him when they learned an Uzumaki had been in the area and claimed her five minutes after he put her in the maternity ward. The seal wasn't even set yet!

Jiraiya traveled all over the islands, trying to figure out where the unknown Uzumaki had taken her. He believed that the one who had claimed Naruko was Kushina's father, but Hiruzen refused to believe it.

Everyone knew Kushina had lost her immediate family in the attack. Though to be fair she never mentioned her father and she always got the strangest letters...

He shook his head, and reached for the globe.

He smiled as he watched a little girl and what appeared to be her father enjoying what was clearly an early birthday. He was about to put the globe away when the girl turned to face him directly and his heart nearly stopped in his chest.

Those eyes...they were the same shade as Kushina's and she had whisker marks on her cheeks. Her hair, now that he got a good look at it, was the same Uzumaki red as Kushina herself...and the man beside her.

He had to know whether or not this was the missing girl. If it was, and that really was an Uzumaki then he could breath a little easier.

The Council couldn't force him to return the girl to the village if it was an Uzumaki who had claimed her to begin with. That fell under clan laws, and one of the primary tenants of the village was that the council couldn't interfere with clan business.

If they could, then the branch house of the Hyuuga would have been gone years ago.

* * *

Shanks stayed awake at the local bar while his daughter stayed with some of the crew in the hotel and waited. Gale had sensed someone watching them while they were at a local park, and he had a feeling it was the Hokage.

Sure enough, five minutes into his drink an old man walked in.

"Thought you retired old man," said Shanks with a smile.

"Had to retake the position after the fox hit us. And you are?"

"Shanks. Captain Red-Haired Shanks of Uzushio. Should see the look on those Marines' faces when they found out I got a discount for bein' a local," said Shanks grinning.

"Uzumaki?" asked the Hokage.

"Kushina's father. She always found it amusing that no one thought to ask her if her father was dead already. Everyone just assumed I was. I came by that night because she mentioned she was going to have a baby, ended up rescuing my granddaughter with a freshly painted seal on her stomach," said Shanks, knocking back another shot of sake.

"Did you have it confirmed?"

"Doctor made sure I was related to one of the infants before she even allowed me to take her. Didn't you see the paperwork that woman made me do?" asked Shanks with a shudder.

One of the reasons why he had gone pirate rather than shinobi was to avoid _ever_ having to do paperwork.

"Mind if we confirm that you're related to Kushina? If you're a direct blood relation it would keep the council off your ass later when they find out you came back with her," said Sarutobi.

"Lead on!" said Shanks. No way was he allowing this village to kidnap his daughter from him because the wanted the fox back.

A few hours later, Sarutobi had it confirmed and in triplicate. Shanks was Kushina's biological father, and therefor the last living close relative Naruko had. Which meant he had full authority to claim the girl and there wasn't a damn thing the council could do about it.

* * *

Shanks was about to leave when he saw an ANBU give him an old hand signal meant for those who had shinobi training, but weren't shinobi themselves.

The Hokage wanted to see him. They were leaving because Shanks had heard rumors about the Uchiha clan that worried him.

He left Gale with the crew at the ramen stand and went to see Sarutobi.

The first thing he saw was a young Uchiha kid, barely a few years older than Gale herself in full ANBU gear. He knew something was up.

"Shanks, meet Itachi Uchiha, known as ANBU Weasel. Weasel, this is Shanks Uzumaki. A pirate."

"Whatcha need Old man?"

Sarutobi sighed before he rubbed his forehead. He had cleared the room the moment Itachi came to him.

"Itachi has come with some disturbing news. Apparently the Uchiha are aware that there is a mole in the clan warning us of a...mutiny...I believe you would call it against my office. They haven't pinned it to Itachi yet, but it's only a matter of time. Originally I planned to send him to a growing problem over in the Amegakure village three islands over, but with your presence I was hoping you could take him instead."

"Sir?" said Itachi confused.

Shanks leveled a look at Itachi. He had to be a good fighter if he made ANBU at that young, and he barely remembered how to use chakra to begin with. Gale could use a big brother figure to train her.

"Itachi, you know my feelings on child soldiers when it's not a time of war, and frankly the idea of forcing you to spy for the village sickens me greatly. However, sending you on a long term information gathering mission about the world outside the Elemental Islands could prove beneficial in the long term."

Seeing Itachi's confusion grow, Shanks explained.

"I'm an Uzumaki pirate. Wasn't on the island when it was hit, but I kept in contact with Kushina before her death. Gale could use someone who knows how to fight like a shinobi, since I've mostly kept to the sealing arts. We've got plenty of room, and we travel around the world seeing the sights. If you join up you'll likely end up with a bounty eventually since I'm rather infamous. The higher the bounty, the more people take you seriously."

Itachi's eyes widened in shock. Become a pirate?

"Plus, we won't force you to give up your allegiance to the village. At best you would be our intermediary for the Uzumaki and Konoha," added Shanks.

"What is your choice Itachi? A long term information mission, or an undercover one that might not end for some years and puts you on the nuke-nin list?" asked Sarutobi.

Itachi weighed his options, before a thought occurred to him.

"If anything happens to my clan, can we bring my brother along? With how much emphasis is on our eyes I would not feel comfortable leaving him in the village with the council and their sycophants."

"If anything happens to the Uchiha, we'll send Sasuke straight to you as the older family member," said Sarutobi.

"Why not? Gale could use someone to play with, and she gets lonely occasionally while we're traveling. Besides one of the principle codes of the Uzumaki was that family stuck together. It's why Kushina still wrote to me, despite the fact I chose the life of a pirate."

"I think I would rather travel and send information back about the outside than go undercover, sir," said Itachi finally.

Shanks' grin was wide.

"Welcome to the Red-Haired pirates," said Shanks, holding out his hand. Itachi shook it and went to get his things.


	2. Chapter 2

"Captain? Why are there now two more people with you than when you left?" asked Beckman slowly.

"Itachi here is joining our crew, and Sasuke here is coming with to keep Gale company. Itachi, why don't you follow Lucky Roo down below and find yourself a place to sleep."

Beckman faced his captain. Shanks wouldn't just let kids onto the ship without good reason.

"Sir?"

"Itachi here is an acting liaison with the Fire island's primary shinobi village, and Sasuke is his younger brother. We were about to leave the outlying village when we got word that his clan was wiped out except for Itachi's brother. I'm not about to deny the kid his only remaining family, and Gale could use someone to play with that she won't have to leave behind."

"Why would we need an acting liaison?"

"It was either he act as a scout for the world outside the Elemental islands, or he goes undercover as a traitor of his family. I'd feel better knowing that we gave this poor kid a chance to enjoy his life, even if it means he had to switch careers to do it," said Shanks.

"Is he an able fighter?"

"He was the equivalent of an East Blue marine captain."

Beckman nodded. That was all he needed to know. East Blue was rather tame compared to some of the others, but that only meant the kid had to adjust his style a little before he could fight with the rest of the crew. At best he would be the new acting babysitter for Gale during an encounter with the Marines.

* * *

Itachi sweatdropped. How the hell had he gotten himself into this situation?

Oh yes, now he remembered. He had opted to go on an information gathering mission rather than go undercover for who knew how many years acting as a nuke-nin.

But there were days when he wished he had gone to the islands and gone undercover as a spy. This was one of them.

"But Itachi-nii..."

"We want to go with the crew!"

Sasuke and Gale were tag teaming against him while he was stuck watching the ship with the more sane members of the crew and babysitting the kids.

Beckman usually let him read while one of the other crew like Yasopp kept an eye on the kids. But he had gone with the rest of the crew earlier and wouldn't be back for five hours.

Frankly the combination of puppy eyes from eight and a half year old kids was getting to him. Fortunately he knew exactly how to handle this. He was semi-familiar with Kushina Uzumaki, and he remembered one important fact about her.

She was a prankster, and he wanted to make Shanks pay for making him the new unofficial babysitter of the kids.

"Tell you what, if you promise to behave I'll teach you something all shinobi and pirates should know. How does that sound?"

The two cheered in agreement, and Beckman, who had been napping in his private room, woke with a shudder. Something horrible had just happened.

When he caught the two children trying to booby-trap his room, he decided he would rather have them consider him a cohort rather than a victim. Shanks was only partially amused by it later.

* * *

"ARG!"

Shanks took one look at his crew, blinked, then double checked he wasn't in Uzushio again.

Nope, still on his ship.

Then he broke down laughing his ass off.

Every single person on the ship had bright Uzumaki-red hair. Every. Single. Person.

Seeing the grinning imps Gale and Sasuke, along with a suspiciously amused Itachi, he had a good idea of the culprits.

"Alright, how did you do it?"

Gale grinned at her father and chirped "Well we're the Red-Hair Pirates right? So how come only me an' you have red hair?"

"So we put red hair dye in all the hair care products on the ship."

"But how did you change the darker toned hair colors?"

"That would be my doing."

"I figured that, but how?"

"Henge."

Shanks laughed even harder. It was a harmless enough prank, though it would be interesting to see what happened if the Marines ever saw an entire ship of red heads.

Then again most of the crew were honorary Uzumaki anyway when the Uzushio council learned Shanks had taught the permanent members how to create seals. So long as they were loyal to Shanks (and therefor to the Uzumaki line) and swore only to pass it on to their children and apprentices, they could live with it.

Besides, who would suspect a crew of _pirates_ lead by an Uzumaki main line to actually know how to draw shinobi seals?

"Marines off the port bow!" shouted the lookout. He had known about the prank but didn't care.

Shanks' grin was predatory.

Itachi didn't need to be told, he took the kids up to the crow's nest and handed them some blank seal tags and a pot of ink to keep them quiet.

Of course if any Marines got halfway up the netting they would spam fireballs at them like no tomorrow. Well, Itachi and Sasuke would. Gale always seemed to overpower the damn things.

Itachi couldn't help his snickering when the Marines took one look at the red hair and immediately assumed that Shanks had found a way to clone himself. It wouldn't be the first time this rumor had come up, but they did wonder why he had bothered to disguise himself as his own crew.

Seeing the limping ship leave with the freshly injured, Itachi decided to release the illusion by tomorrow.

It took the pirates a full month before the hair dye wore off and the tainted products were used up.

* * *

Itachi was out drinking with the crew, Shanks having given him the night off.

Beckman, the only _sane_ member he could find, was insuring he didn't make a fool out of himself.

"There's one thing that always baffled me."

"What's that?"

"Why did you name her Gale?"

Beckman sighed.

"Ask Shanks. Originally he wanted to name her 'Maelstrom', but we outvoted it because if spelled with the wrong letters it would read 'fishcake'. Either way, we all agreed Gale fit her perfectly after that storm," said Beckman cryptically.

The next afternoon (once he had gotten over his hangover) he asked Shanks why they had named her Gale.

"Gather round kiddies, it's story time!" said Shanks jokingly.

Gale jumped off the crow's nest and grabbed a rope on the way down out of years of practice. She had an idea of why her dad was calling her down.

Sasuke sat next to his brother, looking infinitely more happy than he had been three years ago. The eleven-year-old had found his niche among the crew after he became fascinated with Dracule Mihawk's sword skills.

Shanks was teaching him how to use a cutlass, but it was pretty clear the boy was more suited to a tachi or longer katana than the usual pirate's sword. Still, Mihawk had agreed to tutor the boy in the art of swordsmanship provided Shanks shut the hell up after having a hangover...and so he could nitpick at Shanks' teaching style.

They two were old friends and cousins, not that they remembered half the time when they were trying to cut each other's face off.

"Alright kiddies, today I'm going to tell you how Gale got her name," said Shanks.

Gale cheered. She loved hearing this story...her dad often told it to her when she was having a bad day and couldn't sleep.

"Gale was only about a year and a half when we came across Reverse Mountain, the entrance to the Grand Line. Now we had gone up that mountain countless times and would likely go up it countless more, but this time was different in that it was Gale's first time up the mountain. And there was a nasty hurricane happening at the time to boot. We had gone up the mountain anyway hoping the storm was a little easier on the other side," said Shanks. Itachi and Sasuke were rapt with attention.

They had gone up the mountain last year and it had only solidified Sasuke's desire to be a pirate after that ride. Itachi had told him he wasn't allowed to join Shanks crew until after Mihawk had trained him or he had a suitably high bounty.

"Now as you three know, everyone has to either use chakra to stay anchored to the boat, go below or have a rope around them at all times during the nasty storms. Gale was too young to use chakra, she refused to stay below, so we tied our best rope around her and let her walk around since she had learned not to be underfoot early on. Halfway up the mountain, there was a massive gust of wind and Gale suddenly went flying, but was held tight by the rope. Everyone scrambled to grab her before she got hurt, but she was too far out."

Shanks remembered that moment. He had been afraid his daughter would slam against something and get hurt, or worse killed. He swore some of his gray hairs had come from that incident alone, and Uzumaki tended to go gray in their eighties, if that. They were a long-lived clan.

"Instead the little mite kept giggling away, grabbing the rope with her stubby hands and swinging around like it was nothing!" laughed Yasopp.

They all had a collective sigh of relief when the girl got tired of bouncing around in the high winds long enough for Shanks to catch her. And he had to be quick about it because a wave had overtaken them almost immediately after landing on the other side.

"After that we had a long discussion about what to name her, because clearly her Uzumaki blood bred true just like it did in her dad," said Beckman. They all knew that the girl was born to the sea, just as Shanks had been.

Shinobi life was a close second, but with the way Jinchuriki were treated by the shinobi the girl really was better off as a pirate.

"I suggested Maelstrom, after the storm we had gone through on the mountain, but I was outvoted after the crew learned that the name 'Naruto' could be misspelled to mean fishcake," said Shanks sheepishly.

"Which was when someone suggested Gale, since it was a gale of wind that nearly took her from us," said Beckman.

"Ironically her elemental affinity is Wind, with a good secondary in Water," said Shanks.

"Wow," said Sasuke, looking at his best friend and sister impressed. He hadn't known she had been giving this crew heart attacks as young as that!

Gale was practically the Uchiha brother's little sister, mostly because she treated Sasuke as his own person, not a younger version of Itachi, and because she reminded Itachi of his little brother. Besides, Itachi was old enough to remember Kushina, who had been a nice aunt to him before the incident.

Itachi however was giving Gale an odd look.

"That does it, we're going to be working on combining elemental chakra next. I want to see how even a mix your wind and water are," he said flatly.

Shanks agreed it was a good idea. He had seen some Hyoton users back before it was nearly wiped out, and they were paying to a visit to Water Island next week if he was right.

This was the first time in a year they were anywhere near the Elemental Islands, mostly because Gale wanted to see the other ones. She had only been to Fire twice.

* * *

"Land ho!" shouted Gale eagerly.

The Island of Water was a dismal place, and if it wasn't for the efforts of pretty much the entire crew of the ship, they might have been attacked by Mist Sharks...again. For the third time.

Needless to say Shanks wasn't in the mood to go to the Mist village. Especially after seeing their reaction to Itachi.

Calling a surrogate crew member a monster for his special eyes did not sit well with him...but it had given Sasuke a stark cold reminder that not every village worshiped the kekkei genkai users like Konoha.

They stayed long enough to resupply at most. After seeing how bad the bloodline purges were Shanks had no interest in increasing his crew that much.

However Gale had been aptly named... she blew in with three new shinobi-born that needed a ride off the island before they were killed.

Shanks couldn't resist his daughter's puppy eyes, especially when she broke out the ears and tail to go with it.

So Zabuza Momochi (who was about as evil as Mihawk whenever some moron woke him up from a perfectly good nap), Haku (someone who looked like either a girl or a disturbingly girly boy) and Kimimaro (who had followed Gale like a puppy when she shared her lunch with him) joined the crew.

Itachi was just glad to have someone help him train Gale in her water element, since he was more of a fire element.

"Next stop, Wind Island," said Shanks firmly. They were gone before the Mist nin had a chance to find out Zabuza and two new bloodline users were on the ship. He promptly put the permanent Water Island log pose in an area he had designated for dangerous islands.

It was mostly a chest full of the odd compass creations that Shanks felt were too much of a headache to return to.

The islands he liked the best were on a shelf where they wouldn't fall over and be smashed. Among them were Uzushio, Fire, Mihawk's island and one that belonged to a new restaurant called the Baratie on the East Blue.

Gale had gotten along smashingly with a kid who had gotten on Shanks nerves because of how often he flirted with her, to Zeff's open amusement.

The only reason he hadn't worried about that brat Sanji was because when Gale had tried his ramen she had immediately declared herself off limits until he learned to cook. In the boy's effort to woo his daughter, he had put the wrong spice in the bowl and Gale had to get some milk to stop the burning.

Gale was very, very serious about her ramen. Almost as serious as that kid who had accidentally eaten their Gum-Gum fruit before Shanks could sell it had been about being a pirate.

He could have sworn he had seen that kid's face before, but it hadn't been until they were on the Grand Line that he realized why Luffy had looked so damn familiar.

He was Dragon's son and Garp's grandson.

If there was ever someone Shanks wouldn't make a fuss about Gale dating, it was Luffy. The kid was an idiot (much like Gale was on occasion) but he had a heart of gold and he had good genes.

He was just thanking the Rikudo Sannin that Machiko (the woman who ran the bar on the island Luffy lived on) had taken pity on a poor pirate captain who's daughter was an early bloomer on a ship without any other female influence (barring Haku who also got the 'Talk'). He didn't want to go through that hell twice...he had been unfortunate to be around when Kushina finally hit puberty.

Thank the Sage Gale thought of the crew as her family and wasn't interested in them!

* * *

_**Just so we're clear here, Shanks still has both arms. When the bandit went to grab Luffy while the pirates were away, Itachi killed him. Gale had stayed behind to hang out with Luffy some more because she knew they would have to move on to the next set of islands and she felt sort of sorry for him because he had eaten the fruit by mistake. Gale and Itachi were showing Luffy how to throw a proper punch when the bandits showed up again.**_

_**Shanks still gave him his hat and Luffy still admires the Red-Haired pirates for saving him that day.**_

_**However he also has someone to write to using the postal birds that live on every island.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**And in the lead for Gale's pairing is... ACE! To be honest I threw Itachi in there as a joke. If you want a say in who she gets teamed up with, hurry to the profile page and cast your votes! Please note I am leaning heavily on Ace at this point. In other news, the mass updates should be returning soon... I just ordered a new charger cord for the laptop I write with. Pray it's the right one!  
**_

* * *

Gale was eagerly awaiting landfall. They were heading to Fire Island because Shanks had learned the chunin exams were about to start and they were in the area.

If they were lucky they would make it in time for the third exam, which was a battle royale if Shanks remembered right.

Sasuke was currently on Mihawk's island with Kimimaro (they had become friends over their love of swords and having kekkei genkai) on a three-year training session.

Itachi was heading back mostly to turn in his rather long journals filled with information on the islands he had visited and with the request to be taken off the village's shinobi roster.

He wanted to become a full member of Shanks crew, seeing as how he liked them more than his former family at this point.

He knew it wouldn't be that simple, mostly because of his bloodline, but fortunately there was a precedent. He just had to get the council to believe he was undergoing Sage training and was on permanent 'hermit' status like Jiraiya of the Sannin.

If that didn't work, Shanks would adopt him as a full member of the Uzumaki clan, seeing as how he was the closest thing to an Uzukage, despite the fact he was a pirate.

The only reason he didn't use the title was because the last thing he wanted to deal with was the World Government trying (and likely failing) to take control of the Elemental Islands just because the Yonkou happened to be considered the leader of one.

Gale sailed down from the crow's nest where she could be found most days with only one hand on the rope (if only because it was one of the highest points on the ship) reminding everyone she was a natural Wind element with how easy she made the move look.

Shanks chuckled. Gale loved to swing on the ship like it was her own personal playground.

She already had a bounty and a nickname. The Crimson Typhoon, after one particularly dimwitted Marine insulted her red hair before he found out who her father was.

Gale had blasted him out of the bar with one of her strongest wind jutsu and into the next five buildings before she beat the living shit out of him.

After they found out who she was and the fact the winds were hers to command, they had given her the nickname...and paid homage to who she was related to in the same breath.

"Hey dad, you think Gaia-chan is going to be there?" asked Gale.

Gaia Subaku was a girl Gale had bonded with after the girl had tried to kill her on Wind Island a year ago. And she was like Gale, except her family was terrified of her.

If it were possible, Gale would have taken Gaia with her in a heartbeat. Shanks would swear that his daughter was trying to make her own crew while she was still a part of his own. She already had Haku, Sasuke, Kimimaro and now Gaia who were as loyal to her as his crew was to him. And they were all borderline pirates anyway.

Zabuza, Haku's adopted father, had asked if Mihawk had a crew, mostly because the only person on the ship who could even remotely give him a decent spar was Shanks himself. He had been only slightly disappointed to learn the man didn't have a crew per-say, but he did have regular sparring partners.

He had also said that if Zabuza learned how to really wield that blade of his, he had an open invitation to stay on the island that he usually commandeered as his home. It was a rare man that learned the sword and didn't become an arrogant idiot, and even fewer still that caught Mihawk's attention longer than a few days. Zabuza had potential, if only he were brave enough to try and grasp it.

When Gale had visited Suna, she had a run-in with Gaia outside the village near the desert. Shanks was trying to get some wind jutsu from the Suna shinobi and she knew he would succeed because he was armed with two very important things.

One, he was a pirate and therefor not affiliated with the Hidden Villages outside of being the Uzumaki Clan Head. He was a wild card that went where he pleased within reason and the village leaders knew it.

Two, he had plenty of gold on his ship. Gold he was willing to pay to help his daughter learn more of her natural elements. A daughter who was also unaffiliated with the villages outside of having shinobi parents.

And with the Wind Daimyo tightening his purse strings to unheard of levels, the Suna council was more than happy to part with some of their scrolls in exchange for the gold needed to keep their shinobi force strong.

And as an added bonus, Gale was later given command of one of the lesser ships under Shanks along with some of the younger crew members to do supply runs for a year to the other islands in exchange for a proper teacher when she docked and supplies all shinobi had.

However it was what happened with Gaia that had a profound impact on the girl.

Gaia had, at the urging of her 'mother' tried to crush Gale late one night while the shinobi sent to keep an eye on her turned a blind eye. It wasn't their problem if the foreign brat got killed.

Gale, however immediately unleashed a tiny portion of her Haki at Gaia knocking her out cold without harming her. She then patiently waited until she sensed Shukaku trying to wake up before she placed a better seal on her.

Needless to say Gaia had been a bit panicky at the sudden loss of her 'mother' and being all alone in her head for the first time in her life.

So Gale slapped her, forcing her to wake up to reality.

After that Gaia asked her what she should do now that Mother was so quiet...and Gale told her of her family. One not made of blood (outside of Shanks) but by an indescribable bond of trust and loyalty. Of the freedom and joys of living life your own way without caring what people thought of you. Of not giving up until you've succeeded in your goal and protected those you considered family. Of showing everyone that no matter what you wouldn't be broken by circumstance or by opinion.

And Gaia listened, entranced.

Then Gale dropped a total bombshell on her...by revealing her seal. Learning Gale had a similar seal on herself that held the same burden she carried had come to Gaia as a stark reminder how one single change could make things better.

The next morning (after Gaia had a perverse pleasure in nearly giving her blood siblings a heart attack finding her asleep on one of the couches in their home) the two met again and Gaia timidly asked Gale if she could call her sister.

And like that an unbroken bond of companionship was formed between the two Jinchuriki. Gale even gave Gaia a log pose that was made solely so one could find the other half.

It was a pain in the ass to make, but once she had figured it out how to modify an ordinary log pose using fuinjutsu it sold like hotcakes among the pirates and several marines who heard about them from their sources.

Gaia had it hung around her neck so she would always know which direction Gale was in, no matter where the ship was.

And if Gaia's sister Temari showed Gale how to fly using a fan as thanks for saving her sister from herself, no one said a word.

* * *

"Passports," said the chunin drone with boredom.

Shanks handed over the items, and Itachi looked around with a bored expression. A few years had broken him of any desire to be a Konoha shinobi. He preferred being a notorious pirate to shinobi life.

He was still loyal to the village, but he had become disillusioned with the shinobi lifestyle.

Shinobi went on missions that included kidnapping and assassination, and started wars for no other reason than pride and arrogance. He had seen war at a tender age, and he had hated every moment of it.

Pirates went where the wind and waves took them, and only killed when needed. They never went to war, mostly because they were a nation unto themselves and it took a special person to bring them together long enough to eradicate the threat. Not to mention they never had to deal with paperwork after every successful raid.

The only real threat to them were other pirates and the World Government.

* * *

Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork in relief. Shanks was always a breath of fresh air for him.

That is, until he saw what was in the man's hands.

"Adoption?"

"A fail-safe from the council. Itachi has expressed a wish to be taken permanently off the rosters as an active shinobi of the village to become a full crew member. While he is and always will be loyal to the ideal of Konoha, he has said that he no longer wishes to be a shinobi. He is also insuring that no one unworthy obtains the Uchiha legacy by sealing up their library and armory. Sasuke has also asked that his name be registered as Uzumaki instead of Uchiha from now on, as he prefers to follow his brother's lead."

"You do realize that this will effectively end the Uchiha line in Konoha, unless someone comes to claim it later?" asked Sarutobi raising an eyebrow.

However he had always known Itachi had hated being forced to be a perfect shinobi, having seen the Iwa-Konoha war at a young age. He was a pacifist at heart, and he hated seeing war. Being a pirate had probably been a relief to him, and having his name changed meant Konoha couldn't legally force him to return.

"Itachi has also said he will still send regular observations of the outer islands to Konoha. While he will no longer be an active shinobi, he still wants to help his home by expanding their horizons."

"Giving me the perfect reason to remove an excellent shinobi from the roster by putting him on a permanent mission for the Hokage's office, only to be recalled during extreme war-time measures," said Sarutobi.

Shinobi didn't retire that young. Jiraiya could attest to that, as he was still considered an active shinobi despite his age. It would be interesting to see how he would react to Gale, as he was supposed to be her godfather.

"Frankly I don't care about the name. Family is family, blood or not. But Itachi wants nothing to do with the Uchiha name or it's legacy. He still loves Konoha, but he refuses to be used as a weapon for the highest bidder anymore. If any of their children reclaim the line, that's their business," said Shanks bluntly.

Sarutobi looked at the piece of paper in his hand and without hesitation put his personal seal on it, making the change official.

The Uchiha line was now dead until a descendant decided to reclaim the name. Uchiha Itachi was officially considered dead as well, and Uzumaki Itachi took his place on a permanent mission to explore the world outside the Elemental Islands barring an extreme emergency. Uzumaki Sasuke was still a minor and was inconsequential considering he had only attended a month at the Academy. If he wished to retake the Uchiha name, he would have to do it in person.

Shanks handed over the copies of Itachi's observations of the outside islands to the Hokage directly. He could already sense his daughter's anger from here and he wanted to know what had her about ready to unleash her Haki on shinobi.

* * *

Itachi was the only one not flinching at Gale's rage being unleashed.

Jiraiya-sama really had the worst timing he had ever seen. The entire crew knew when Gale and the other females were taking a bath or relaxing in a hot spring that it was very unwise to even come within visual range of the area.

Mostly because despite some of the best efforts of the crew, Gale had definitely inherited her mother's temper. She could care less about perverts in the crew, but when they were stupid enough to turn her attention to her when she was trying to relax, it got messy. Very messy.

The Marines hadn't called her the Crimson Typhoon solely because of the unfortunate incident when a Marine insulted her hair color. There were others that had solidified that particular nickname.

And right now Jiraiya was about to be on the wrong end of Gale's wrath. He was lucky she hadn't unleashed her Haki just yet. She could be vicious when that was out.

Gale's feminine wrath was only paused when she heard a delighted cry from a familiar voice.

"Gale-nee!"

Thank the kami, Gaia had followed that log pose Gale had left.

"Gaia-chan!" said Gale with a squeal, before she asked "Would you like to help me teach a peeping tom to keep his perversion to himself?"

Seeing the evil glint in the Suna kunoichi's face, Itachi openly made a prayer for Jiraiya's health before he promptly left the area.

He paused when he saw Shanks and warned him off.

"The Crimson Typhoon is about to be helped by Suna's Earth Goddess. Unless you wish to become an unwanted victim of feminine wrath, I would turn around now," he advised.

Shanks winced.

"Who and how bad?"

"It's Jiraiya. His luck must truly be appalling to have caught Gale's attention with his incessant giggling while she was trying to relax in the hot springs."

Shanks' winced only grew, as he firmly declared to one and all "It's his problem. Let's go get some ramen or something."

Itachi agreed immediately. No way in hell was he getting caught twice by Gale's revenge against idiots.

The two didn't look back when Jiraiya's pain filled screams erupted in the air. If anything they quickened their pace.

Gale when in full typhoon mode and with an accomplice in delivering feminine wrath was something no sane man wanted to get near.

* * *

Sarutobi couldn't help it. He was still laughing at his student for being unlucky enough to catch his goddaughter's attention at the hot springs in the worst way to get her wrath on him.

Gale was definitely related to Tsunade. He hadn't seen anyone beat Jiraiya that badly for his perverted acts since his wayward student was still a loyal kunoichi.

"Who the hell was that girl? I could have sworn Tsunade reversed her age and dyed her head red!" asked Jiraiya. He was clearly loopy if he hadn't recognized Gale on sight.

"Uzumaki Gale. Kushina's daughter," said Sarutobi once he got over his amusement.

Jiraiya fought past the pain medication to actually look at his sensei.

"There is no way that was little Naruko! You told me she died!" said Jiraiya angrily.

"No, I said that her grandfather had claimed her on the night of the attack. Shanks is a good man, and he had legal right to her," said Sarutobi.

"He claimed her that night? But Kushina's father died!"

"Actually she never claimed her father was dead, only that he wasn't a shinobi. Shanks is a pirate, one rather feared by the World Government. He's even taught his entire crew Uzumaki fuinjutsu. Apparently he had been on the way to visit his daughter because he knew she was about due to have her first child and came right after Naruko...Gale...was left in the hospital. He did it through proper procedure and she's lived on the ship her entire life."

Jiraiya leaned back on the pillows. Naruko, no Gale, was alive and thriving from what he had seen. Shanks had clearly taught her the shinobi arts, but a pirate raised brat would never consent to wear a village's symbol.

Perhaps an Uzu headband, but never a Leaf.

Considering how people had reacted when they found out the Kyuubi had been put into an innocent child, it was probably better she had been raised away from Konoha.


	4. Chapter 4

_**I GET MY NEW CHARGER CORD TODAY! If it's the right one, the updates will resume, starting with a mass update within the next few days along with a few plunnies that simply BEG to be written! I'll try to get some of the older stuff posted first though. Wish me luck!**_

* * *

Tsunade had no idea why she was in Konoha at this moment, but she fully blamed her crappy luck. Why else would she return to the one village she detested?

The entire thing could be pinned on the fact that she had pissed off the Marines enough that they put a bounty worth hunting her down for with the headhunters they had.

Pirate hunters weren't nearly as wary of her as the shinobi ones. She had taken out ten before they deemed her a big enough threat to send out the bigger guns.

Hence why she was hiding in Konoha for the first time since her departure. Not even Jiraiya knew she was there, which was what she wanted.

She had nearly broken her cover when she saw that red haired sprite deliver a vicious beating worthy of some of her old ones on her old teammate for spying on her, with the assistance of a Suna girl.

Instead she ran right into the surprised arms of the current Uzumaki clan head, the oldest shinobi of the main line, Uzumaki 'Shanks' Hotaru.

She had thought he had died years ago. Kushina had never spoken of him except in passing. Then again she had been in the village the night Naruko had been taken, scant hours after the attack.

It had taken three days before anyone realized the new Jinchuriki had been removed from the village and another day just to mount a search.

One could reach the coast in two days, one and a half if they really hauled ass and didn't stop for anything. And a lot of sea could be covered once they were gone.

Shanks took one look at her disguise, and recognized her immediately without being told. Instead of blowing her cover, he offered to buy her a drink.

"Hotaru-san," she said. The black-haired boy beside her gave Shanks an odd look.

"What?" said Shanks.

"Your first name is Hotaru?"

"You didn't really think I was named Shanks originally did you?" he said in open amusement.

"Firefly, really?" said the boy amused, before he turned back to his meal.

"The red haired sprite is one of yours, isn't she?" asked Tsunade evenly.

"Kushina's girl. I wasn't about to leave my granddaughter in a village that had recently come out of a war and an attack on their very way of life. She would be little more than a clanless orphan and you know how the shinobi treat orphans without a family," said Shanks flatly.

Tsunade said nothing. Considering the options left to the girl, he had made the most logical decision. Without a family Naruko would have had a much harder life, and she knew her sensei. He liked to play things safe.

The poor girl wouldn't have even known about her family until she hit chunin, if she made it that far. Removing her from the village was a much better idea. Seeing that little fire cracker with the same temper she had at that age had been a stark reminder of all the things that had gone wrong in her life.

Then Shanks did something that would change her heartbreak. One that would give her all the freedom of a shinobi without the past to go with it.

"There's always room for one more on the ship, and Gale could use a good female influence. I know Haku-chan has expressed a real interest in medical jutsu, but we've had the worst luck trying to acquire any. And Sage knows you would have no end of patients on the ship."

"What's the policy of women on board?"

Shanks eyes were hard.

"I have a strict no fraternizing between the crew policy. At most they would stare at you, but that would be it. They know I don't like having the peace of the ship broken because a personal relationship fell through between the crew," said Shanks flatly.

Itachi spoke up then.

"You do realize that this is a _pirates_ ship we're talking about? You'll end up with a bounty once they hear you've signed on as their personal medic."

"I already have one. Some dumbass Marine took offense that I broke every bone in his body for trying to get fresh with me. Next thing I knew, I had pirate hunters on my ass and a fresh bounty with no real name," said Tsunade irritably.

"That'll change quick once they find out you're directly related to me. Gale's already making a name for herself among the other pirates, the only reason they leave her alone is because she always stays with a senior member of the crew. She's learning to build her reputation from the ground up."

"What's her call sign?"

"Crimson Typhoon. Partially because of her elemental chakra, but mostly because when her temper breaks she's like a force of nature," said Shanks, before he laughed, "Just like every other Uzumaki woman when pushed too far."

Tsunade laughed, a sound that broke her doubts like glass shards.

She needed a fresh start, and there was no way she was taking the Hokage's hat with all the bad memories that threatened to tear her apart. Shizune wouldn't be particularly happy, but if this could break her out of the cycle she had fallen into, the woman would eventually see this was for the best.

Though a sudden thought occurred to her.

"What's your policy on pets?"

"What sort of pet?" asked Shanks.

"A pig. Shizune picked her up one night and she's become quite useful," said Tsunade.

Shanks blinked.

"Just keep her far from the kitchens and Lucky Roo and she'll be fine. Might have to put a seal around her to keep the thing from being accidentally eaten."

Itachi snorted in open amusement. Then an evil thought occurred to him.

"Perhaps we should get Gale an early birthday present. Think she would like a pet?"

"Don't you dare get her a cat. I've heard horror stories of those evil things and I refuse to let one on the ship," said Shanks immediately.

"Of course not. I was thinking more along the lines of a nin-hound from the Inuzuka."

"Then that is perfectly acceptable, provided she pick the dog out."

Itachi left the two older Uzumaki to talk about what roles Tsunade would play on the ship (despite being a woman she was a terrible cook) while he went to find Gale.

Their attempts to get Gale a pet were curtailed by one simple fact Itachi had completely forgotten.

Most animals could sense the fox, and by extension the fact it was an alpha predator. And cats were already not an option because Shanks couldn't stand the things and Itachi had a deep seated hatred of them thanks in part to Tora. One shared by any Konoha nin unfortunately enough to become a genin shortly before the war between Earth and Fire islands, as that was roughly when the Fire Daimyo's wife originally bought the cat.

Every shinobi who had to retrieve that damn cat hated it, and most had sworn off the things soon after multiple missions retrieving it.

Gale looked more irritated than anything, so Itachi tried another approach.

He took her to the Forest of Death, ignoring the signs and fence to get a pet that wouldn't flip out and was actually worth Gale's time.

Her Uzumaki luck kicked in and she left that forest with a new summoning scroll, several new inventive words from Kurama (the fox) and a pet kitsune that could fly on two tails. It was given the evil eye by the villagers (who still harbored a great hatred towards foxes, hence why the kitsune in the forest had been so eager to leave for the summon's realm instead) but they kept their tongues and comments to themselves after seeing the familiar nine-way split in Gale's hair.

Many who were around when Kushina was alive remembered that warning sign, and no one wanted to get on the wrong side of a girl who was quite clearly her daughter.

* * *

"No, no, no! This is how you give out maximum damage!" said Tsunade.

The healer had convinced her traveling companion to join Shanks' crew along with their pet pig mostly so they could avoid having to deal with Konoha anymore while still being useful.

Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, went along with it because it would curtail her teacher's bad gambling habit. It was difficult to gambling and booze her life away when there was a limited supply and they were on the sea most of the time.

Besides, she was tired of dodging debt collectors.

In the meantime, Tsunade was giving Gale tips on how to deliver even more pain to perverts. Oh, and how to use her new summoning contract properly, since she apparently created a new clan. The original fox clan had taken them in, but they said Gale had to learn how to use the new contract before she was allowed to sign the original.

Shanks said she would have that mastered in a year. She learned fast and got things down even faster with motivation.

Itachi might have felt a single iota of pity for anyone stupid enough to try and perv on Gale, but Shanks didn't. He was, after all, her father and highly protective. If Tsunade wanted to teach Gale how to get perverts the world over to leave her alone, then by the Sage he was all for it.

Gale balled up her fist, channeled chakra into it with pin point precision, and then slammed it into the mountainside. The third round was going to start in two days and she really wanted to win that necklace off Tsunade, who had bet she couldn't learn the technique before the fights started.

She was already halfway there.

What Tsunade didn't know was that the fox (Kurama) was giving Gale help because he found the idea of his container pounding some poor bastard's face in for looking at her wrong hilarious and was eager to see it put into practical use.

"I... I got it!" said Gale excitedly.

"Let's see," said Tsunade.

Gale balled up her fist and slammed it as hard as she could with Tsunade's earth shattering technique.

The ground under her caved like cheap paper. Tsunade was impressed.

"Well done brat. And just in time for the tournament to start. Here, this is yours now," said Tsunade, putting her grandfather's necklace around Gale.

Somehow, she felt Gale was the one person who could avoid the curse that seemed to follow that damn necklace.

"Can I get some ramen?" asked Gale, puppy dog eyes full force.

Tsunade chuckled. If there was one thing that seemed to be genetic among the clan (aside from red hair and an easier time learning fuinjutsu) it was a love of ramen.

"Tell you what. Since this is the last time I'll see Konoha for a long, long time, why don't we buy out the ramen stand out of their stock and enjoy it while we root for your friend Gaia?"

Gale perked up at that.

* * *

Gaia was up against some idiot from Konoha from the Hyuuga, so as a good friend Gale cheered the loudest for her.

"Go Gaia! Kick his ass!"

Gaia flashed her friend a big smile, before she decided to have fun with her opponent. Unseen by the crowd, she put an exploding paint tag in her hand and waited.

The idiot came within range, so she used something Gale had picked up from Shanks, who said it was one of the old Uzu tricks to put arrogant brats back in line. Fun for pranks too, according to him, because they always tended to faint if they though you were using an exploding tag.

They called it the 1,000 years of humiliation.

"Secret Taijutsu technique! 1,000 years of humiliation!" whispered Gaia under her breath.

Neji, the creep, screamed like a little girl as he realized the sand had gone up his ass while attaching an exploding tag of some sort. So imagine how embarrassed he was when he found out it was a common paint tag designed to _look_ like an exploding tag.

Gale was howling up in the stands. She definitely owed Gaia a treat for using one of her favorite pranks on this jerk.

Neji looked at his rear embarrassed beyond all measure that she had pulled that gag on him. He had heard tales from some of the older branch members that Kakashi loved to use that on his genin before he failed them.

"You called your own cousin weak because she understands the value of kindness. You beat her within an inch of her life because she refused to stand down to your anger towards a seal she has nothing do with. Everyone has their own issues with family and that is no excuse to take out your so called fate on someone who wants nothing more than to get along with her 'nii-sama'," said Gaia coldly.

Gale had taught her a very important lesson on the value of family. Just because you were blood didn't always mean you were going to get along. But after seeing the way this jerk treated his cousin, a girl so kindhearted that she had trouble bringing herself to harm her family, pissed Gaia off. It was clear that Hinata had been born in the wrong house for her gentle temperament, and someone needed to teach this jerk a lesson.

Gale was her sister in all but blood, and everyone in Suna knew it. She alone could approach Gaia when she was in a really foul mood and the sand around her started to act up in an all-too-familiar way that indicated she was getting homicidal. Temari was a second choice because she was slowly learning to be a better sister by trying to talk Gaia down first, even if she was naturally wary of the sand trying to kill her.

Gaia didn't kill Neji, but she certainly delivered her point loud and clear to the fate-obsessed Hyuuga. Don't bring your personal problems to a fight, especially against your own family.

* * *

While Gaia headed back up the stairs, she ran into a familiar face.

"So what did that guy do to piss you off so much?"

"Did you see that girl with the pale lavender eyes looking rather sickly in the stands? Short hair and timid nature?" asked Gaia.

"Hyuuga right? What about her?"

"She's his cousin, and during the first preliminary matches in the second round he nearly killed her all because she happened to be their heiress and the Hyuuga have a rather nasty habit of branding the so called branch house. He decided to take his anger at the situation out on her," explained Gaia. And it had really infuriated her at the time.

Gale however rubbed her chin in thoughtfulness.

"This needs to be properly investigated. You head on up to the area you were in and I'll see what I can do to make her life a little better. I've heard a few things last time I was here that really bothered me about that clan."

Gaia nodded, assuming that Gale would somehow con the Hyuuga into handing over their heiress and gain a new crew member. At this rate she would have her own pirate ship, and she fervently hoped that Gale would have a place for her too.


	5. Chapter 5

**_THE PLOT BUNNY GODS HAVE BEEN APPEASED! On an unrelated note, it may take a while since I've lost my muse due to a revolt from the bunny sacrifices. Fortunately there are ways around that._**

* * *

Gale walked up to the mousy and still very pale Hinata Hyuuga. The girl took one look at her outfit and cutlass and eeped in surprise.

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Gale, what's your name?"

"H-H-Hinata H-Hyuuga," said the girl.

"That's a really pretty name."

"Ano... why are you talking to me? Aren't you a bandit?" asked Hinata. Her headband was clearly around her neck.

Gale made a face.

"I'm a pirate, there's a _big_ difference."

"What's the difference?" asked Hinata, honestly curious. She had only dealt with bandits before.

"Pirates are more like shinobi, at least the good ones are, than bandits. The lower level pirates are more like bandits and they tend to be taken out by the better ones if they don't change their habits fast. And best of all, pirates never have to do mission reports."

Hinata looked interested now. She had always been told that pirates were no better than the bandits.

"How about I explain life on the Grand Line while we watch the show? I'm sure my cousin won't mind one more and she might be able to help with that pale face of yours. She's a doctor you know," said Gale.

Hinata asked her teacher first, and she decided to follow them.

"Gale, what did your dad say about picking up strays?" asked Tsunade.

Kurenai stared.

"This is your cousin?"

"Uzumaki Gale, at your service! Dad's bringing her with us since she's tired of the Elemental Islands," said Gale.

"Shanks swears his cute little daughter is trying to make her own crew while still being a part of his own. She even has ship designs for when she finally sets out on her own," said Tsunade in amusement.

Gale wanted to sail with her own crew for a while, as being around that much testosterone got tiring after a while, especially since she was a blossoming teenager on a ship full of people she personally considered off limits.

"It's an honor to meet you..." started Kurenai, but Tsunade waved her off.

"Now what's this I heard about you trying to shanghai the Hyuuga heiress into your crew?" asked Tsunade of Gale.

"The girl's too kind to be a shinobi, but she might better off being a pirate."

"A pirate?!" hissed Kurenai.

"Not the bandits of the sea you're thinking of, but a real pirate. Kushina's father is a pirate, and a damn good one from what I've seen of his techniques."

"Pirates aren't required to kill like a shinobi, and they aren't considered weapons like those idiots in Ne," said Gale flatly.

She had read up on the history of the Elemental islands out of boredom and because she had nothing to do on the late night look out duties that she always got saddled with because she loved sleeping in the crow's nest.

She had also off-loaded most of those books in Skypeia, the floating continent in the sky. Most pirates considered them a myth, but Gale had tricks Shanks, Itachi and Sasuke when she was five to ride the current up into the clouds.

Thanks to her seals, they were able to leave unmolested by the locals with a ton of goodies.

Shanks and Sasuke were still unhappy with the fact Gale was a natural on the wavers and they kept crashing with them. Itachi was the only other one who had gone who could ride them.

Though Gale got good use out of her shinobi training when there wasn't any wind. She was responsible for insuring the ship stayed in motion when she saw bad weather.

"So where's Karin?" asked Tsunade after she made sure Hinata wasn't going to pass out on her.

Karin was another Uzumaki, one Shanks had accidentally run into before she left for Kusagakure. It had taken quite a few discussions, but the end result was that Karin was now on the ship waiting for them to return, seeing as how she wasn't allowed in Konoha until after the exams were said and done with.

And Kusa could care less if they took a meager genin, especially since it all but guaranteed that the current 'Uzukage' would visit their island in the near future.

Shanks was well known throughout the Elemental Islands by now because of his actions in bringing Suna back on the map before it had a chance to fall too far down in the rankings. Every village knew about the Red-Haired Pirates and their gold.

And Gale was all but guaranteed to get some new scrolls to play with later.

"Dad sent her ahead to the ship. She's currently working on seals like everyone else does once they get a spot on the ship," said Gale.

It was one of the requirements Shanks had for the crew. If they got on full time, they were taught how to use and/or make seals.

At this rate Gale was going to have a decent sized crew in time for Sasuke and Kimimaro to end their apprenticeship with Mihawk.

Now she just needed a cook.

* * *

"A genjutsu really? Talk about cheap," said Gale a few hours later.

Hinata was kept near Tsunade and Kurenai, primarily because she was still recovering from the blows Neji had dealt her.

Gale easily dispersed it with a negligent flaring of her haki. Genjutsu had nothing on that.

Gale took one look at the barrier and scoffed. She was thanking every deity that she knew of that actually _liked_ pirates without the whole nasty afterlife to go with the worship that Shanks had gotten to her first. Seeing how half-assed these people fought made her annoyed.

She raced along the roofs, avoiding the stray kunai and shuriken to make it where the ANBU were.

The barrier, from what she could see, only went on top of the roof. Were these people really that lazy?

"Wind Style: Maelstrom of the Wind God!" said Gale, flying through familiar hand signs.

The roof was torn to shreds and the barrier abruptly broke apart as the ones holding it together were forced to get new footing. Gale was the first one in with her cutlass gleaming in hear hand.

Whoever that snake freak was, he gave her a bad vibe, much like that jerk Blackbeard on Whitebeard's crew.

On the plus side, she had met Luffy's older brother Ace who was a real riot. Shanks hadn't been the only one laughing when Gale took initiative and drew on his face when his narcolepsy kicked in.

Gale was about to charge in, haki blazing, except Itachi and Shanks beat her to it. The shinobi were boring them to tears.

"Gale, go keep Gaia out of trouble. Don't want your crew getting the locals mad do you?" said Shanks.

"Right dad!"

Gale grabbed her trusty goggles, a present from Yasopp when she first started acting as lookout. They were made so that she could always have a clear line of sight when she used her winds.

Next to Yasopp, she was the best sharpshooter in the crew.

"Wind style: Turbulence Storm!" said Gale, taking out her fan and firmly attaching herself to it.

The winds around her swirled to massive levels and lifted her up without her having to move a finger. A little chakra and the wind sent her flying to where Gaia was.

* * *

Gaia was having a horrid day. First she had to deal with that snooty brat Neji, then that jerk Kabuto brings her new orders... kill her sister Gale.

Baki didn't bother to enforce the orders that the Kazekage had given her. He knew it was futile and that they would be needing a new Kage soon. The man wasn't even that good a leader...about the only thing he did _right_ was get on the good side of Red Haired Shanks long enough to help keep the Academy running.

Then that creep did something to the seal Gale had put on her that forced the demon out.

Normally Shukaku would go on a rampage, but there was something about Gale that had changed him.

She didn't treat him like a monster or as an unthinking beast. She treated him like any other member of the crew. And for creatures such as the bijuu, finding someone brave or crazy enough to do something like that had a profound impact on them.

So when he saw that bright red hair coming towards him, he stayed still long enough for her to get to the two.

"_**You took yer time girlie. Now get this seal off so I can go back to sleep!"**_ said Shukaku.

"Hold your horses, you cranky old tanuki!"

"_**Shut yer trap you annoying kitsune!"**_ he shouted back. Inside Gaia was giggling. Gale loved sparking an insult match with Shukaku, and it was funny to watch them fight.

"Gender confused moron!"

"_**Air-brained bandit!"**_ shouted Shukaku.

"You take that back! Bandits are losers and I'm a pirate dammit!" shouted Gale with a roar as she punched the demon hard enough to send it flying.

Shanks, when he saw that, laughed. Perhaps Gale and Luffy wouldn't be the best match after all. They were simply too much alike! Though Ace and Gale might do better. After all, fire and air went together hand in hand when chakra was involved.

"Will someone kill her already?!" shouted Orochimaru.

He didn't need to know who the girl was. All he had to see were those eyes to know who her parents were.

No way was he allowing the daughter of that damn fourth Hokage ruin his plans any more than she had.

"Now what was that about killing my daughter?" said Shanks, his haki flaring.

"Or my little sister?" asked Itachi, his own haki starting to rise.

"Pirates? Don't make me laugh. You're nothing more than sea bandits!" said Orochimaru. He had dealt with pirates before, though they were primarily Kiri defectors.

"Ha! You've clearly never met real pirates before, or you would know that you shinobi are nothing more than small fry," said Shanks.

Itachi drew his sword and encased it with darkness.

"If you're not willing to put your life and dreams on the line, then you're not worthy to fight for the skull and crossbones!" said Itachi.

Shanks's grin widened. Itachi was a pirate through and through. He knew they'd corrupt him eventually.

* * *

Temari had a headache. Gale was arguing with the massive tanuki and beating the shit out of each other. Then again, it was rare that she got to argue with anyone other than the fox in her gullet.

Finally she had enough.

"WILL YOU TWO MORONS KNOCK IT OFF? GALE, PUT THE DAMN RACCOON BACK INTO MY SISTER OR I SWEAR TO THE SAGE I'LL BE THE ONE TO PUMMEL YOU!" shouted Temari.

Gale stuck her tongue out.

She had actually reversed whatever the hell Kabuto did a few minutes after Shukaku called her an air-headed bandit, but they were having too much fun to stop.

"_**BUTT OUT PIGTAILS!"**_ shouted Shukaku.

Temari ran up his leg and gave him a Look. He winced and retreated back into Gaia, who was laughing at the insult fight.

"You sure you don't want to be in my crew?"

"Ask me that when we get back to Suna and get this mess cleared up," said Temari nursing a headache.

* * *

Hinata was nervous. It was understandable, since her father was making a decision on whether she could leave the village and travel with Gale.

Shanks had said that since Gale was so determined to see the world on her own and get her own crew, that she had to convince the Hyuuga to let her take Hinata with them.

Gale already had a good starter ship...one that Shanks had captured years ago had had repaired for just this occasion. It was fully stocked and ready for sailing. Gale just had to give her a good flag to fly under.

Hiashi Hyuuga walked in with Gale. She looked mildly irritated, mostly because she hated stuffy people.

"Hinata, it has been pointed out to us that perhaps Konoha is not the best place for you to grow as a shinobi. Uzumaki-san has offered to take you aboard her ship as an apprentice to learn fuinjutsu and this...haki. In exchange a portion of the treasure you acquire will be sent to the Hyuuga clan. It is up to you whether you go with her or not."

Hinata thought long and hard. On one hand, she loved Konoha, it was where she was born and raised. But on the other hand, from what she knew of pirates they weren't weapons to the highest bidder.

"I... I would like to join Uzumaki-san for a while father."

"Know that until you return and prove yourself worthy, Hanabi will be taking your place as heir," warned Hiashi.

Hinata nodded.

"Pack your things and prepare to leave. They leave within three days once the Hokage opens the gates for travel," said Hiashi.


	6. Chapter 6

Hinata wasn't the only shinobi born who was allowed to leave.

Kiba was secondary heir, and he had always harbored a deep crush on the shy girl Hinata.

When he heard she was being taken as an apprentice to a pirate, he had asked to be allowed to go with her. They were teammates after all.

And since Gale liked animals and his loyalty, she allowed it.

Another person who was being sent with them was a girl named Yakumo Kurama, mostly on Kurenai's recommendation.

She had tried to help the girl control her family's talents towards genjutsu, but nothing she had tried worked. She hoped sending the girl with Hinata would help her find a way to keep the demon illusions under control.

"So what are we called? I mean pirates like your dad always have a name right?" asked Kiba.

"Well we have a ship, but it doesn't have a flag just yet. Besides, we have to stop by Wind Island to see if we can't rope Gaia and Temari into the crew. In the meantime Hinata will start learning medical jutsu from baa-chan since she expressed an open interest in it," said Gale.

"You're a pirate without a name for your crew?"

"Most pirates don't get a name until they have more than a few members, or if their captain has a very distinguishing feature. For example, my dad's crew is collectively called the Red Haired pirates, despite the fact he's the only natural red head on the ship outside of me."

"What about the flag?"

"Once we have an agreed upon symbol, we'll make a basic skull and crossbones. Fortunately one of the most basic things we're taught early on is how to make and repair pirate flags. They can be any color, but they all have to have the skull and crossbones."

"Ano... what do the skull and crossbones mean anyway?" asked Hinata timidly. She found this conversation fascinating.

"Depends on who you ask. Since we've got a long way to the ships, I suppose a bit of a history of the world outside the Elemental Islands is necessary."

They were almost to Tanzaku Gai, a major outpost for shinobi getting back home. Gale found a nice tavern and went into lecture mode. Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Yakumo all settled down for an early lunch while Gale explained about the history of the known world.

"Several decades ago there was a man known as Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King. He ruled the oceans with his crew and challenged the World Government. Now at some point he was captured and executed, but not before saying these infamous words that would spark what is called the Golden Age of Piracy. 'I've left my treasure for the taking, but you will have to find it first. I've left everything I've ever owned in One Piece.' Shortly after speaking these words, he was killed by the Marines. However the chance to become the next Pirate King sparked a race to sail the oceans to locate One Piece, which is what the pirate king's treasure is collectively called."

"How do you know all this?" asked Kiba.

"The legend of Once Piece is known on almost every island barring the Elementals, and even then it's heard on the fringes. The shinobi age might rule here, but out on the sea it's the rule of the Pirates. There's another big thing about the sea life... you have to watch out for Devil Fruit users," said Gale.

"Devil Fruits?"

"Magical fruits which can grant extraordinary and bizarre powers, at the cost of never being able to swim again. No one on the crew has eaten one, not even me. The thing is no one knows why people who eat the cursed fruits turn into anchors when they touch enough water, and most believe them to be cursed by sea devils."

Gale then brought out her bracelet which she wore everywhere. It was made of special rocks Shanks had found in the treasure that she liked a lot. Benn called them Sea Stones.

"These, are Sea Stones. They nullify the effects of devil fruits to the point that it's possible to hit even someone made out of air or fire."

This was her secret to beating the snot out of Ace. She just punched with the arm the bracelet was on and he couldn't stop it by turning into fire.

"Now, to answer Hinata's question about what the skull and crossbones mean. The thing is no one really knows what it means, but people have different ways of interpreting it. For example, if a pirate were to ask you what your Leaf symbol on your headband means, what would you reply?"

"We're shinobi," said Kiba instantly.

"Yes, but what does the Leaf mean to you? Is it a symbol of your village? A mark of pride? The greatest goal in your life?" asked Gale.

Kiba blinked. He had no idea how to answer that question, at least not without thought.

"Pirates, real ones not the glorified _bandits_ of the sea like most Kiri rejects, will tell you that the flag they fly is a mark of pride and a symbol of their freedom. To me, a pirate flag is a sign of dreams, freedom and a sense of adventure. And to lose your flag is considered one of the worst things that can happen, as it's a mark of who you are as a crew. Keeping it in good repair is an absolute must for a crew."

The shinobi blinked. Most of them could replace a headband rather easily, some even defected just to switch villages. But they had no idea how important a flag was to pirates.

"Equally important is the ship. Now dad's said that he's letting me have the ship I used to do cargo runs in back when I was acting as courier for Wind Island, so we at least have one to start with. A good pirate keeps their ship in excellent or almost new repair. Failure to do so can result in death on the seas. It's more or less a starter ship though."

"Starter ship?" asked Yakumo.

"For the good pirates, there are four types of ships. There's enemy ships, ally ships, starter ships and your ship. The first two are pretty explanatory, but the others are a bit difficult to explain."

Gale took a long pull of her tea. It was a bit weak, but until they got onto the sea they couldn't legally drink any rum or sake. Stupid age limits.

"Starter ships are small vessels that most of the better pilots use until they either earn enough money to get a custom vessel or capture a better one from a disbanded crew. They fit at most ten to twenty people, which if you have the right members is more than enough. An absolute necessity of any crew is a captain, first mate, navigator, doctor, chef, someone to repair it, and at least one strong fighter. Having a clear chain of command in a crisis is also a necessity."

"So do we have all that?"

"The strong fighter and captain part is already covered by me. Haku-chan is our primary doctor and she's been training on how to cook for a few years now. Once Kimimaro and Sasuke finish their training with Uncle Hawk they'll likely join our crew too. Now what do you guys specialize in?"

"Ano, I like watching the stars?" offered Hinata.

"With a little training you can be our navigator and secondary doctor. What about you dog boy?"

"Fighter! Though I could help with repairs if you showed me how. Our clan tends to get a little wild at times and mom's favorite punishment is to make you fix what you break," said Kiba.

"Hopefully Gaia-chan will be allowed to come with us. She has experience as a navigator as well as a first mate from when we were acting as couriers," said Gale.

"Who's Gaia?"

"Red head with baggy eyes who kicked Neji's ass," clarified Gale.

"Her?"

"She's loyal, is an excellent navigator and keeps her head in a crisis," said Gale.

"So do we do missions or what?" asked Yakumo. She might not be a shinobi, but she wouldn't mind being a pirate.

Gale laughed.

"Pirates might do supply runs occasionally, but missions? We don't have any paperwork, we go wherever the winds and seas take us, and usually we don't give a damn if someone is a demon or not. As long as you can fight and be useful, you can be a pirate. Hell, Uncle Hawk is pretty much a one-man crew himself, and even the World Government acknowledges him as a threat big enough to not bother with," said Gale.

"No more missions with that demon cat?" said Kiba.

"Demon cat?"

"Tora."

"Oh... hey, wasn't Tora a brown cat with a ribbon on it's left ear?" asked Gale.

"How'd you know that?"

"I think Shukaku the one-tailed demon accidentally stepped on it... I saw some blood after I made his fly backwards and it looked like he stepped on some cat," said Gale.

_In Konoha..._

Sarutobi stared at the remains of a genin's worst nightmare mission. Retrieving Tora, the cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife.

From the looks of it's corpse it had been stepped on by Shukaku during the 'fight' with Gale.

"Someone bring me my ANBU. I have the best way to bring moral up after that invasion."

ANBU Cat, AKA Uzuki Yuugao, was the first to enter the office.

"Sir?"

"Spread the word. Subaku no Gaia has killed the demon that has plagued our village for too long."

"You don't mean..." said Yuugao eying the bloody ribbon.

"When she unleashed the demon it accidentally killed Tora. Break out the sake!"

And with that, several demands from Konoha were dropped when they learned Gaia had killed the demon cat that had plagued the village for years. The Fire Daimyo's wife wasn't happy, but the shinobi could care less. NO MORE TORA MISSIONS!

_Back with Gale_

"Did you guys just have the feeling something hilarious has happened and you weren't there to witness it?"

"Probably found out about Tora," said Kiba.

"Is it really that big a deal?"

"Imagine an animal that knows how to evade traps, claws the living shit out of you and you're not allowed to kill it. Now imagine carrying it a mile back to a mission office where the only joy you get is seeing it's owner turn it into a living squeeze toy until it escapes and you have to recapture it. Everyone hates that cat. Everyone," said Kiba in a dead tone.

"If Gaia killed it, she would be considered a hero for it especially among the genin," said Hinata.

"Welcome to the Red Force. Or as I like to call it, home!"

The shinobi stared at it in shock. They had never seen a ship this big before...it was clearly meant for traveling months out at sea.

"Right. Girls follow me, Kiba you'll be bunking with Itachi-nii. Dad had to set up a separate room for the newcomers unless they chose to join with his crew rather than mine. Fortunately we have plenty of supply rooms."

"Where's Itachi then?"

"Right behind you. You're late, and we're ready to leave Gale," said Itachi. Kiba jumped, then his eyes went to the tattoo on Itachi's left arm.

"You're ANBU?"

"Former ANBU captain. Perhaps you've heard of me, or my now former name? Uchiha Itachi."

"I heard you went missing!" said Kiba, star struck.

"More like I chose to become a pirate instead. Sometimes young Inuzuka, the hardest choice you have to make is to let go of the past and move forward. By the way, how's Hana? Last I checked she was a chunin."

"She's moved up to special jounin and is working at the veterinary clinic," said Kiba. He could relax a little around Itachi. He had only heard good things about him.

"I'll handle Kiba. Gale, show the girls to their rooms until we see if Suna is willing to part with Gaia," said Itachi.

"You got it Itachi-nii!"

"This is what Dad's been calling the girl's quarters. He had it converted when he realized that the amount of estrogen on the ship wasn't going to decrease anytime soon," giggled Gale.

It was actually Gale's room with several hammocks added in the area that had once been her closet.

She still had one, but it was full of sealed clothes rather than hanging ones. Shanks believed in using any available space he could, and there were lots of seals hidden around the ship as a result. Besides, sealing treasure in a pocket dimension (along with booze) meant they could store a good deal more than anyone expected.

Gale didn't mind sharing her space. She actually preferred it, since her only friends had been island brats.

Tsunade and Shizune however, got to have their own quarters in the medic bay. Perk of being the ship's doctor.

Hinata looked at the hammocks nervously.

"Almost everyone has to sleep in a hammock. Makes it easier when the waves are bad," explained Gale.

"How so?" asked Yakumo.

"_Cast off!"_ came the shout.

"Come on! I'll show you how it works later."

Hinata, Yakumo, Kiba and Karin watched as Fire Island vanished into the distance.

"Everyone feels a little homesick during the first voyage away. Sasuke had to sleep next to me for two weeks before Gale tricked him into falling asleep in the crow's nest overnight. Which reminds me, Gale, you're on lookout duty until tomorrow. Shanks' orders," said Itachi.

Gale grabbed a rope that was hanging down from the spot and did her usual running leap off the ship before she practically flew right into the nest with a flip.

A few of the crew clapped at the display of acrobatics. The shinobi stared.

"Gale loves lookout duty because she's always so high up. She's a wind element," explained Itachi.

"How high up is that?" asked Hinata.

"About as high as the Hokage monument, give or take a few yards," said Itachi. He had measured, wanting to know the same thing.

Hinata looked at the climbing ropes, then at Itachi.

"You're free to go up and have a look yourself, but make sure to tie yourself to a safety rope just in case. Shanks had them added years ago while Gale was still a toddler and never bothered to remove them. We mostly use them in case of really bad storms," said Itachi.

Hinata tied the rope securely around her waist in a basic knot taught at the Academy and started to climb. About halfway up she almost seemed to lose her nerve, but kept her eyes firmly upward.

When she reached the top to a grinning Gale, she was rewarded with the most amazing sight.

Definitely worth the climb.


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe you managed to get the Suna council to hand over Gaia for a three year trial period," said Itachi in disbelief.

"Actually that was easy. The real trick was getting Temari as part of the deal," said Gale smugly.

Suna was wary of their Jinchuriki. Even after Gale had gotten through to her that there were other ways to get their attention (I/E pranks) they were still afraid of her.

They were happy to get rid of Gaia for a few years in exchange for a portion of her cut of the treasure.

Temari, however, was a whole other kettle of fish. Gale had to be extra convincing to rope her into the package too, and in exchange a quarter of both their cuts would go to Suna as well as Temari learning how to use haki and possibly train anyone else who could awaken the ability.

After seeing Gale bitch-slap one of the sand worms in the desert using only her armament haki active, they were quite eager to get the edge on Konoha.

Which meant they now had an extra fan to keep the ship moving in any weather.

"So when do we set sail on our own?" asked Temari. This wasn't how she was expecting her next few years to go, but she had a feeling it was going to be infinitely more interesting than doing missions and reports.

"About that... Dad said that since we have some rookie crew members, we have to wait a year before he's going to let us have the ship. The last thing we need are shinobi who don't know the main sail from the top sail," said Gale.

"So where do we sleep?"

"Girls bunk with me in the upper deck...dad had to have an extra room made last time we went to a shipyard so that the girls could have a place of their own away from all the testosterone-laden guys. And don't worry about any Jiraiya-level perverts, they've learned to fear the wrath of the girls and avoid the bath area when they know it's occupied."

"There's a bathing area?"

"More like a small pool that is filled with animal-friendly soaps. You have to use fire seals or fire style jutsu to warm the water up, but nothing feels better after a storm like a hot bath."

"Where do I sign up again?"

Hot baths, freedom from perverts and the chance to bond with her sister? Why would she pass up something like that?

* * *

Sasuke took one look at the ship and grimaced.

"Great...more females, and I bet they're all overpowered, hormonal..."

"Were you saying something dear brother?" asked Gale sweetly from behind him.

Sasuke started to sweat. Gale was never sweet, not unless someone was asking for a beat down. His brother, the traitor, snickered. He was on his own.

"Um... nothing?"

"That's what I thought."

"Remember rule one about females," said Mihawk.

"They're insane?" quipped Kimimaro.

"That's rule three," said Sasuke automatically.

Sasuke and Kimimaro had hit puberty during their training with Mihawk, to his annoyance. So he had been forced to explain how the genders worked to them in between sparring as well as how women got pregnant to begin with in the most blunt fashion. Fortunately they were somewhat aware of how that worked, living on a ship full of pirates and having to help Benn drag them out of brothels more than once.

Really, why the hell had he agreed to take these two as apprentices when they were thirteen for three years when most boys started noticing girls at that age?

Then he remembered. It was a combination of Gale, her father blackmailing him, and boredom.

Damn those Uzumaki. They drove you to drink!

"Exactly how many females did you take on Shanks?"

"Let's see...there's Tsunade, Shizune, Haku, Gale, Karin, Hinata, Yakumo, Gaia and Temari. So nine?"

"Nine females, most of them teenagers, on a ship full of bored men? Are you an idiot?"

"They'll be on the ship a couple of months before Gale goes out to prove she can handle inheriting mine when I retire," said Shanks.

Mihawk did a quick calculation. Shanks was cutting his daughter loose at almost seventeen? With several teenaged boys no less?

"So are you going to turn the male crew members into eunuchs or what?"

"Don't need to. Gale's going on a long run around the Elemental islands for a while before she takes them on the Grand Line. A few hits from her and the boys will keep it in their pants or else."

Gale had seen what allowing personal relationships could do to a ship's crew when she visited some of the other pirate captains. She saw the wisdom of her father's method, which was if you wanted to get some, wait till port when you hit the brothels. Otherwise you had to stay on the island with your significant other, or they had to be able to handle dealing with idiots. It was why Yasopp had to leave his son behind.

Besides, the only new male on the ship was Kiba, and if he couldn't handle being around a mostly female crew he was going to be sent back to Konoha.

* * *

_Six months later..._

Gale was eager to set sail. Shanks had the ship she was used to unloaded at the last dock on Lightning Island, and he had warned her that they might ship off before she had a chance to say goodbye.

They had to survive for two years on their own before Gale could be officially labeled as Shanks' heir to the ship according to pirate standards.

They were going to do one tour of the Elemental Islands (with Fire as the last stop in case they had to off-load anyone like Kiba) before Gale set them on a course for the Grand Line. She had a full set of permanent log poses, courtesy of Shanks.

One of which would lead her straight back to _Red Force_. If she ever needed to find her father that is.

"So where's our flag?" asked Sasuke. He was perfectly at ease with Gale, mostly because they saw each other as brother and sister.

"We're going to get supplies to make one. Good thing Benn showed me how to sew properly," said Gale.

Part of her duties when she was little was learning how to mend sails, including the part where it displayed her father's symbol. She knew how to make a brand new flag from all the times she had to repair the larger sail when it got ripped, or worse when the flag itself was damaged by a storm.

No real pirate targeted the flag of another pirate crew unless they wanted to completely destroy them. It was an unspoken rule among the pirates, along with not insulting the Jolly Roger.

The flag was sacred to the pirates. About as sacred as the Sage was to shinobi.

So when it came to making a brand new flag, a true pirate took it very, very seriously indeed.

"So this is Kumo. Neat," said Gale.

This would be the last time she saw her father for a long while, so Gale and Shanks made an entire three days of it. Though they did almost get run out after Shanks accidentally found out about a certain mission to kidnap his daughter for breeding purposes. Apparently Kumo once tried to kidnap her mother, and Shanks hadn't been aware of that fact.

So he felt completely justified in stealing a few high-class lightning scrolls among others, mostly because he knew Sasuke happened to be a lightning element with a decent control over fire.

Gale hugged her father and watched him leave with a measure of sadness.

"Um Gale, I don't want to alarm you but why are there a large number of pissed off Cloud shinobi heading in our direction?" asked Sasuke carefully.

"Dad might have gone klepto on some scrolls. Apparently they once tried to kidnap mom and use her as a baby-making machine and she never thought to inform him of it."

"Smart move."

"Alright gang, let's cast off! We're already prepped and ready to go!" said Gale.

Haku, Kimimaro, Sasuke, Temari and Gaia all prepared to cast off while Hinata, Karin, Yakumo, and Kiba made sure that everything was fine below. Gale was the undisputed captain of the ship and Gaia was her first mate, mostly out of seniority. If neither of them were available, Sasuke took command, followed by Haku and Temari. Gale felt a clear line of command in case of emergencies came in handy.

Seeing that the Kumo nin had definitely seen Hinata and Sasuke, and likely knew they had bloodlines valuable to the village, Gale looked at Temari.

"Fans out, ropes secure! We're doing a tactical retreat!" said Gale.

The more rookie members quickly tied themselves off. Sasuke, Kimimaro, Haku and Gaia didn't bother. They were used to the sudden surges in speed on the ships. Chakra certainly didn't help keep your balance much when Gale and Temari sent the ship flying through the water.

There was a reason why Shanks had taken extra care to reinforce the masts and body of the ship. Gale could get a little rough when she boosted the sails. Having them made of reinforced fabric with mesh had been a no brainer really.

By the time the Cloud shinobi managed to get a ship, they were in the distance and it was too late to follow them. Gale cackled at the looks on the rookie's faces.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You take entirely too much pleasure in making us skip on the waves," said Gaia flatly.

"Agreed," said Sasuke without hesitation.

"Oh come on, the looks on their faces when they realized that we weren't heavy enough not to skip was hilarious!" said Gale pouting.

Sasuke and Gaia turned to look at the rookies who had never been with Gale on a solo run before when she had permission to boost the speed. They then looked at Gale and started laughing with her.

"What the hell man?!" shouted Kiba. Akamaru whimpered from inside the navigation room where Gaia slept.

"Jinchuriki plus a major wind affinity and a fan that can handle channeling the chakra, plus reinforced seals and help? Equals skipping," said Gale shrugging.

"I have to admit, your reactions to the fact that the ship skipped like a rock on a pond was hilarious," said Temari smirking. They had to do that again, it was fun! Then again she and Gale had been standing on Gaia's sand platform while they boosted the speed. Sasuke hadn't bothered to anchor himself at all...he and Kimimaro had simply clung to the netting that lead up to the crow's nest like monkeys.

Long experience had taught them that the netting was a hell of a lot less painful than anything solid when Gale got the ship to skip on the waves. Kiba had fallen on his ass so many times it was funny.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You'll pay us to use our ship to get to Snow Island and we get to be in the movie?" said Gale.

The director had been ecstatic when he heard that there was a genuine pirate vessel in the area, and had been surprised at how young the crew was.

Normally he wouldn't be asking, but the ship he had chartered for the shoot and trip had been hit badly by Kiri rejects and had to be put on dry-dock repairs for several months. Gale's ship was just barely the right size for the entire cast and crew, and she could take it with her and avoid docking fees.

Besides, she was bored and this sounded like fun. But as any good captain would do, she ran it by the crew first.

The girls only needed to hear that it was for the Princess Fuin movies and they were all for it. Sasuke, Kimimaro and Kiba could care less. Though they were a bit annoyed they had to help reseal most of the supplies below deck for in order for there to be enough room.

The main actress, Yukie, was given Gale's personal cabin mostly because she preferred sleeping in the crow's nest anyway.

What she wasn't expecting was the shinobi escort. From Fire island no less.

"Okay, let's talk fees," said Gale after she ran it by the crew.

Gale kept the price fair but still high enough that she could get a decent cut for acting as the courier to another island.

Depending on how it went, she might get paid to ferry them to another island later.

Kakashi was surprised to run into Naruko Uzumaki of all people when he was supposed to be returning the missing heir of the previous Snow Island's daimyo.

His team was less than happy finding out that Kiba and Hinata would be getting a cut from their mission payment because they were acting members of the ship's crew.

Sakura was particularly vocal about how irritated she was about it. And unfortunately for Kakashi, she had her eyes on one of the pirates...a sword specialist by the name of Sasuke.

Closer inspection revealed him to be the lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre, under a new name. Uzumaki Sasuke had no interest in the pinkette, and he was very clear that there would be no 'relations' while he was a member of the pirate crew.

Gale had adopted Shanks' policy. No intercourse on the ship, only at port. They didn't need a pregnant woman losing a child because of a bad wave or hit from a fight, let alone the havoc it would cause because of a bad relationship.

Besides, this Sakura Haruno so wasn't his type.

So Kakashi kept to the sides, watching how the pirate crew interacted.

Gaia, Temari, Haku, Sasuke, Kimimaro and Gale all acted with perfect ease on the ship. In fact he had caught Gale more than once practically flying via ropes from one side to the other just because she could. She had nearly given the director a heart attack, though Kakashi was surprised it had been done entirely without chakra keeping her aloft.

* * *

About a week in, Gale damn near woke the entire ship with an alarm about an iceberg that had appeared without warning.

She had been on the last watch before morning, and she had sharp eyes. There wasn't a giant chunk of ice earlier that night, and the water was too warm this time of year for one this big.

Haku took the first step on the ground, and she was quick to warn them.

"Chakra-made. I don't think we should linger very long."

"But this scene is perfect!" said the director.

"If you want an iceberg to film on, I'll make you one later. I for one don't want to deal with any shinobi on a simple transport run," said Haku flatly.

She could manage an iceberg in this cold climate and with Gale's help. She just didn't like flouting her hyoton abilities.

"You can make icebergs," said Kakashi in disbelief.

"Hyoton bloodline, plus Gale happens to have a decent mix of wind and water chakra affinities to do most of the heavy lifting. She just prefers wind most of the time."

Gale made a point to sail around the iceberg, with Haku, Kimimaro and Hinata using water jutsu to get the waves high enough to avoid any ice underwater.

The shinobi were less than happy when they found out how close they were to a fight.


	8. Chapter 8

As promised, Gale and Haku tag-teamed to make a sizable iceberg for the film. It was bigger than the one they had nearly crashed into!

Gale and Haku were taking turns on who kept the ice from melting while the rest of the pirate crew did their best to help out. It was during her turn that Gale finally figured out a name for their crew.

"I've got it... the Crimson Kitsune," she said to her group who were huddled next to the fire for warmth.

"Crimson Kitsune?" said Sasuke.

Gale gave him a look. She pointed at her hair for clarification.

"Ah. Because the captain is the Crimson Typhoon and you carry the Kyuubi no Yoko, I get it," said Sasuke.

"Wait, what? You have the demon fox inside you?!" said Kiba wide-eyed. Hinata wasn't that surprised, as Gale had told her earlier.

Gale rolled her eyes.

"The Kyubi isn't a mindless beast. He's more like a lazy perverted fox who likes to sleep most of the time. If you're lucky he'll grace us with his presence," said Gale. Then she cocked her head, as if hearing something.

"I take it he's awake and heard that comment?" asked Sasuke. He was familiar with the fox, who wasn't that big a fan of his ancestor Madara for making him fight Hashirama in the Valley of the End. He still complained of splinters!

"He wants to see what the big fuss is all about with the movie. He did agree to keep himself small so he wouldn't accidentally tip this thing," said Gale.

Since it wasn't a true iceberg, the thing was rather flat on the bottom. Adding too much weight one side or the other could cause it to tip.

Hence why they were trying to stay on the opposite side of the 'iceberg' from the film crew to avoid such a problem. Some of that equipment was heavy.

Gale could feel something shift, and suddenly there was a great big red fox with nine long tails behind her. He yawned widely.

"_**Thank the Sage your idiot grandfather tweaked the seal so I could get out of it,"**_ yawned Kurama.

Shanks, when he had seen the seal, had decided it would be amusing to let the fox roam his ship. That had been nearly ten years ago when Gale was six and bored. And in return Kurama became her permanent playmate in between islands.

Gaia could let Shukaku out as well, after Shanks had tweaked her seal.

If they picked up any other jinchuriki, Gale would offer up the same option for them too. Kinda like having a pet that you could carry anywhere in her opinion.

"That's the Kyuubi?" said Kiba incredulous.

The fox leveled a look at the Inuzuka, and Akamaru whimpered before he dove behind his partner.

"_**I'm bigger than the damn ship, you little ingrate. Shanks once had me stand at full size and I was bigger than the **Red Force**," **_said Kurama irritably.

"True. That was back when I was what, eight or nine?"

"_**A few months after we took on the new brats,"**_ said Kurama yawning.

"Who's watching the... what the hell?!" said Sakura, coming across the giant fox leaning against Gale.

"Banshee, Kyuubi. Kyuubi, your next snack if she never figures out that sound carries on water," said Gale. She disliked Sakura because of her harpy voice, and Haku had to keep a strict eye on the migraine relief items on the ship.

"You can't have your pet fox eat my team members," said Kakashi, walking up. His eyes doubled in size.

"What... how?"

"Dad tweaked the seal so he could leave it for small periods of time. Full sized he's as big as Dad's ship," said Gale.

"Why is there a giant fox here?" asked Sakura.

"Kyu is bored, so I let him out. Hey, I wonder if the director would be interested in adding a real live demon into his film?"

"Bet it would sell like hotcakes in Konoha," snorted Sasuke. Kiba snickered at the idea of shock in the village. It would definitely rile up the council, who kept proclaiming the Kyuubi was the epitome of all evil.

"A real live demon? In our movie?" said the director dumbly. Honestly, he had never thought to include the tailed beasts into his plot line, and a good movie had an ever changing one.

He even knew that his cast wouldn't be harmed in any way. The shinobi would love this!

"And we'll insure he doesn't accidentally tip this thing over," said Gale.

"Quick question. Does _he_ understand what we're saying?" asked Yukie.

"**Better than some of you monkeys,"** answered the fox dryly.

"Don't mind fuzzy. So long as you appear properly cowed by him later he'll put up with almost anything. He might even shrink a little to act as your demon companion later if you want, so long as we bribe him properly," said Gale with a chirp.

Seeing the speculative look on the director's face, Gaia suddenly spoke up.

"The great and annoying tanuki wants in if that happens. He's bored," said Gaia.

"Shu-kun wants in?" said Gale.

"Shu-kun?" asked Kakashi.

"You remember Shu-kun. I bitch slapped him during the invasion and he accidentally stepped on that cat," said Gale with a smile.

"That reminds me... this is for Gaia-chan," said Kakashi. Kakashi was the most likely to run into her since they were going to be on the sea, so the Hokage wanted him to deliver it.

"What's this?"

"Read it and find out," said Kakashi eye-smiling.

Gaia took out the scroll and stared.

"Is this for real?"

"Absolutely. It was put together by almost every single shinobi in the village," said Kakashi. Including himself.

"What is it?" asked Gale. Gaia handed over the letter, and the girl nearly bust a gut laughing her ass off.

It was a thank you letter and a check for the assassination of public menace number one, Tora, the Fire Daimyo's Wife's cat. Paid for by the shinobi of Konoha when they found out Gaia was the one who did it. And the pay was A-rank.

"They gave you that much for killing a cat?" said Sasuke.

"Not just any cat. Shukaku accidentally stepped on _Tora_ while we were arguing during the invasion," said Gale.

"Wait a damn minute. You killed Tora the Demon?!" said Sasuke looking at Gaia.

Everyone who lived in Konoha knew about Tora. He was a known menace to Genin! Itachi used to tell him horror stories of a demonic feline that liked to claw the special eyes out of Uchiha when they were assigned the mission.

Sasuke had nightmares about the thing. And he had only seen it once.

"Who is Tora the Demon?" asked Yukie.

"Long story short there is a cat that newly minted genin and some unlucky chunin had to capture every time it got out, and it had claws from hell. It belonged to the Fire Daimyo's wife, so we had to do the mission even though we hate that thing. The Hokage made it a D-rank because anyone over genin refused to take it for such little pay and more than a few actually planned on how to kill it in their free time. Everyone _hated_ that cat."

"Gaia's demon, the One-tailed Tanuki, accidentally crushed it during a recent invasion. This was just their way of thanking her for killing it," said Gale giggling.

"All that for one cat?" said Yukie, looking at the check.

Kakashi put her under the illusion of a basic Tora mission. Yukie shivered.

"I stand corrected. That is one _evil_ cat."

"It would be higher, but the invasion and all..."

"It's plenty... plus I don't have to share this with the village later," said Gaia laughing.

"That's right... the contract only covered treasure, not mission payments," said Gale grinning.

"What contract?" demanded Sakura. She did not like Gale one bit.

"We don't bother to steal shinobi from the villages. We take them out under contract. That way they get to explore the world and the village can't bitch about it later. The only exceptions are those who have the training, but not the headband like me an' Sasuke."

"How can you have the training but not the headband?" asked Ino, Sakura's best friend.

"Itachi," said Sasuke.

"Dad is from Uzushio, so he taught me the basics from Whirlpool. And Sasuke learned from Itachi. So we're shinobi trained, pirate raised."

"Never heard that one before," admitted Kakashi. His experience with pirates came primarily from Kiri.

"Itachi?" asked Sakura.

"Our big brother. Dad more or less adopted them into the family when he realized neither of them wanted to resurrect their original clan, so they went into a new one instead."

They were sitting on chairs while Kurama and Shukaku (shrunk down to avoid capsizing the ice area) got to be in the movie as 'companions'. Needless to say the two were going to ham it up a bit and brag about this for centuries to their six brothers and lone sister (Nibi). Fortunately the two demons stayed near the back of the island, giving them all the weight they needed to counterbalance the thing without tipping it. And when they had to leave, they would go back into the seals until they were far enough away and the waves died down from the girl's breaking the iceberg. Then they would be in most scenes, possibly having an epic 'death' scene if need be.

If things went well, the director was all for calling them back for another movie. The best part was that they just had to slide and extra tip for Gale and Gaia for letting them use their bijuu instead of paying the demons for their parts.

* * *

The four Snow ninjas were less than amused running into a melting giant chunk of ice on the way back to port. And it was clearly made by chakra. The lone kunoichi on the group was less than happy to note it was easily twice the size of the one they had created five days ago.

* * *

"Swords, Kunai, Shuriken!"

This was repeated five times before one of them was declared the winner.

Gale had discovered two islands in that it was easier to send someone ashore beforehand to work out docking details. But since Kurama and Shukaku were going to be in the movie, Gale was mostly sending someone ahead to forewarn them of a large group coming in.

Port masters tended to think better with a warning of large groups. Fortunately she didn't have to pay any docking fees, because once they were done unloading she was going to seal the entire thing in a series of scrolls that she would carry with her. No muss, no fuss, and it promised a quick escape on the first sea access they found.

Haku was the one who got sent to the island before anyone else to inform the harbor master about their arriving ship and to secure a temporary spot until Gale sealed it off. She had enough to get the spot and bribe the harbor master if need be.

She would wait on shore until the ship came in.

Gale slowly brought in the ship, and Temari was there to insure no stray winds tried to crash them into the others already in port. As the pirates ran around the ship insuring everything was secured for when Gale sealed the ship itself (it was how Shanks had kept it in good repair until Gale was old enough to handle sailing on her own for a few years) the passengers all tried to stay out of their way.

They had to go through this song and dance while Gale and Haku made that iceberg too. What they didn't know was that they had been taped by the video crew the entire time.

Once the ship was settled for the most part, the various crews got to work. Thanks to seals (Gale sold them to the director for a nice fee, all in gold) the work was done a lot faster than if they had to haul all that equipment ashore.

Gale loved fuinjutsu. It made things so much easier. And when you were on the sea with nothing better to do, it gave you a lot of time to perfect the art.

Shanks always got a good laugh at how Buggy, one of his old crew mates from Roger's ship, used to curse him openly because his hobby happened to make him a better fighter and more popular with the crew when it came to storage.

There were a few reasons why everyone on Shanks' crew learned the art.

One, it was a harmless hobby that had multiple benefits. Two, it kept him in touch with his roots and kept the older seals alive. Three, it killed time between islands and kept the crew from getting too restless watching new seals explode in the faces of the others. And finally, because he simply liked fuinjutsu.

All those who traveled with Gale learned the art as well, mostly because it was a great way to spend the boring hours of doing nothing.

"Ship's cleared off and all passengers are on shore captain," said Sasuke.

Gale grinned as the crew waited for the show.

"_Uzumaki Fuin: Seal of the Deep!"_

A great air pocket spread over the ship itself, turning it into something akin to a ship in a bottle. That shrunk in on itself until it was small enough to fit a basic storage scroll that Gale put into her pocket for safe keeping. That pocket was made to be indestructible from anything short of a buster call.

"What... how?" said Kakashi dumbfounded.

"Fuinjutsu Master. Everyone who's been around the Red Haired Pirates for more than a year learns how to make seals during our spare time. And I was raised on it. In short I'm better than that pervert Jiraiya is," said Gale shrugging.

"You're kidding! Why would pirates learn something as complicated or boring as seals?" said Sakura.

Shinobi rarely learned more than how to make exploding notes or storage seals. It was considered a dead art.

"Unlike shinobi, we don't do missions so we have a lot of free time between islands. Fuinjutsu is something anyone can learn and the odd exploding seal that goes off in your face tends to liven up the time on the sea. I don't get why more shinobi don't learn the art since it's so useful to have around," said Gale flatly.


End file.
